Weird response to my rental Ad

[DeniseM]

Obviously bogus, but what is their game? (This was a response to a Craigslist Ad. - so it's not a Tugger who knows who I am, and it's listed under my husband's CL Acct.!)

DeniseM's DH,
What floors are your rooms on? I already booked at the Hilton Hawaiin for Feb. 21-March 2, 2012.
Do you trhink it is possible to have a coffee and discuss potential future vacations with you?
Thanks,
Gerald

 

[ronparise]

who knows what they are planning...why not meet with them to find out (assuming that they are local)...maybe they are legit and looking for a better deal for next year

Craigs list advises local, face to face transactions as your best guard against scams...Heres your chance, but like any blind date have back up and an excape plan

 

[heathpack]

Maybe I am paranoid, but my guess is "Craigslist Killer."

ZERO chance I would respond to this, let alone meet this guy for coffee! It kind of FREAKS ME OUT that anyone would even consider meeting this guy for one millisecond (sorry Ron, that is probably the female perspective on something like this, not a criticism of you).

H

 

[djs]

who knows what they are planning...why not meet with them to find out (assuming that they are local)...maybe they are legit and looking for a better deal for next year

Craigs list advises local, face to face transactions as your best guard against scams...Heres your chance, but like any blind date have back up and an excape plan

Surely wouldn't be planning to do anything wrong.

Have to admit though, it's an odd ad; it's not like it was on eHarmony, Match or anything similar.

 

[PamMo]

100% agree that it's a weird response to your ad, and I would NOT agree to a meeting. If "Gerald" is a legitimate renter, why not just email queries about future rentals? Wanting to meet for coffee to discuss future rentals is a little creepy (or needy). Both are trouble.

 

[DeniseM]

The Ad was for my Hawaii rental - can they tell from Craigslist where I'm located?

 

[ada903]

Denise, I got goose bumps reading that. I would not even respond.

 

[DeniseM]

The are contacting me through my husband's Craigslist Acct. and email Acct., so they think they are talking to my husband. So maybe HE has a date.

 

[Passepartout]

The Ad was for my Hawaii rental - can they tell from Craigslist where I'm located?

I don't think so- other than a guess by what city the CL ad is from. I don't know that I am as creeped out as some. I might respond to Gerald asking for his phone #. If it's local, you might call. Enter *82# first to block your number.

Face-to-face is for sure the best way to avoid CL scams, just keep it in public.

Jim

 

[chapjim]

Craig's List crawls with lowlife. I get emails for a couple of days everytime I list or re-post on CL. If I list three or four at the same time, I get three or four times as many emails.

One type is the husband and wife, usually from the UK, wanting totally different dates than my listing, trip being paid for by an employer, and "we don't smoke, neither do we drink." The other common email says something about how wonderful my place looks and I should list it on such and such site.

Denise's Gerald sounds like a masher to me or some sicko loser.

 

[ronparise]

100% agree that it's a weird response to your ad, and I would NOT agree to a meeting. If "Gerald" is a legitimate renter, why not just email queries about future rentals? Wanting to meet for coffee to discuss future rentals is a little creepy (or needy). Both are trouble.

It may be trouble but its what Craigs List recommends. Here what it says on the Craigslist website. (and they highlight it).



"You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts on craigslist."

see their "about scams" page here


If I was a renter, and I was using Craigs list and I saw this, I might make the same request as Denise's respondent...And if Denise blew me off, (again following the advice of Craigslist), I would assume she was a scammer and move on.

The biggest problem I have on Craigslist are not the scammers. Its the folks that think I might be a scammer. I am always looking for ways to improve my presentation and my reservation procedure and my payments structure to put my customers and potential customers at ease and give them the confidence to send me their hard earned money knowing that I will deliver what I promise. If someone wants to meet me Im going to do my best to do it

Having said that my wife advertised an unused exercise bike on Craigs list. She got a response from someone that wanted to come over to see it tomorrow...Ill be home early. I dont want her entertaining another craigs list murderer by herself

I guess what Im saying is if you are going to do business with strangers, you are taking a risk. That doesnt mean, dont do it, It means that you should take reasonable precautions to minimize those risks.

 

[glypnirsgirl]

I think that he is trying to go out of his way to not be creepy -

1. He addressed the request to meet not to Denise, but to her husband;
2. He tells you where he has his rooms booked for this year and when he will be there;
3. He has done enough due diligence to know that Denise has at least a part time business, so he would like to discuss future vacations.

I have to meet with strangers all of the time - so does Ron - maybe we are just so used to doing so, the idea does not strike us as odd.

It is usually pretty easy to ferret out a weirdo. I would send back an email that says that it is an interesting idea, one that you haven't done before and therefore you are curious about what he wants to discuss.

(If he tells you he wants to know what color of underwear you are wearing, then you know --- and why is that the question that weirdos always want to ask?)

 

[ada903]

I am not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. What about all the spelling mistakes? The few times I had inquiries with spelling mistakes, they all turned out fishy. You don't take the time to spell two lines correctly, but you take the time to meet me in person?

 

[DeniseM]

My "husband" sent him and email saying that it would probably be difficult to get together for coffee because we probably didn't live in the same area, and he sent an email back saying, "I thought you lived in Hawaii?" So maybe he is Legit. Still kind of funny.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I think that he is trying to go out of his way to not be creepy -

1. He addressed the request to meet not to Denise, but to her husband;
2. He tells you where he has his rooms booked for this year and when he will be there;
3. He has done enough due diligence to know that Denise has at least a part time business, so he would like to discuss future vacations.

I have to meet with strangers all of the time - so does Ron - maybe we are just so used to doing so, the idea does not strike us as odd.

It is usually pretty easy to ferret out a weirdo. I would send back an email that says that it is an interesting idea, one that you haven't done before and therefore you are curious about what he wants to discuss.

(If he tells you he wants to know what color of underwear you are wearing, then you know --- and why is that the question that weirdos always want to ask?)

I fully agree with this perspective.

People need to cross over to the other side of the table and think about things if they were the other person. Trust is a two-way street and this looks to me as if this could easily be a person who is looking for a reliable contact for future rentals. In that vein, the proposal to get together over coffee is perfectly logical if they are gunshy about doing rentals through sites such as Craigslist and the person wants to be sure that Denise is someone they can trust. Heck, it's something that I would consider if I were in that situation. The person is suggesting to meet in a public location, at Denise's convenience, for a cup of coffee. If I were interested in getting to know better someone for continuing business that's probably pretty close to what I would propose.

I have a hard time imagining that anyone interested in scamming would want to invest time and energy to meet someone - that's just not a productive use of their time. This person clearly is willing to invest some time in creating a relationship - the only question is whether it's a business relationship or something else. And there's nothing in the e-mail that oozes "creep" to me.

 

[4Reliefnow]

Denise,

Seems we would need to see the CL ad to try to determine the mindset of the responder. When I posted a rental ad (based on your recommendation of places like TUG, Redweek, CL) I posted in my home city CL Detroit and in CL Chicago. If you posted in CL Hawaii, the rental location, I might also assume you live in Hawaii.

I was in Scottsdale on Vacation and wanted to rent a place for a month for Mother-in-law. I went to see several places and met some owners and agents. Maybe the person likes to rent in Hawaii and just wants to see places and owners to rent for future visits - "Plan future vacations" Think from the mindset of a legitimate future customer, then verify, then stay safe - coffee in public at the place you choose, with your husband as escort if you want.

 

[Rent_Share]

I think it was a response to generate a reponse to harvest an email period

 

[DeniseM]

After my "husband" told him we did not live in Hawaii, we got no more emails. So maybe he really was looking for a local rental contact - or maybe he was looking for a social contact. Hard to say.

 

[Tacoma]

Denise

When I have spoken about timeshares around the pool etc. I have occasionally had people call me at the timeshare to ask me how to use their week better since so many are clueless. If someone gleaned that you rented timeshares I'm sure some of the people that plan on renting might want to meet you to discuss what might work for both of you in future years. I'm going with the assumption that they are not weird just friendly. But it's not an isssue anymore. I know I'd meet you since you are a wealth of information.

Joan

 

[DeniseM]

It was probably perfectly innocent - I just get so many weird emails on Craigslist that I am naturally suspicious.

 

[gnorth16]

Between Redweek and the TUG classified, I have had no problems with renting (3 for 3 so far), and selling one (within 2 weeks). I personally don't like craigslist and kijiji since it attracts a lot of low ball offers from wierdos. People calling saying they will offer you half the asking price in cash for whatever you are selling....sight unseen.

Think of it this way. If you were going to look for a vacation rental, would craigslist be 1) the first place to look 2) A place you would look at all?

Not me.